


Counting Sheep

by CeNedraRiva



Category: Naruto
Genre: 5+1 Things, Demonic Possession, Developing Friendships, Insomnia, M/M, Personal Growth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-11-24 15:53:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18167171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeNedraRiva/pseuds/CeNedraRiva
Summary: With Shukaku in his head, Gaara has never been able to sleep easily. But there was something about Naruto's presence that soothed him enough to rest.Or, 5 times Gaara and Naruto fell asleep together, + 1 time they didn't.





	Counting Sheep

Konoha was quiet after midnight. Gaara found it relaxing, but the peacefulness also set his teeth on edge. While the usual riot of noise and colour of city nightlife was irritating, it helped drown out Shukaku’s whispers, and during full moons, Gaara would take any advantage he could to keep the demon sealed.

Tonight, that meant practicing fine chakra control, using his sand to create sculptures of plants and flowers. The repetition and attention to detail gave him something to focus on past all of Shukaku’s bloodthirsty nonsense.

Two days ago, Gaara had been defeated in combat for the first time, fought to a standstill by the kyuubi jinchuuriki, Naruto Uzumaki. It had been an enlightening experience, and left Gaara pensive, wondering if he too could gain his own precious people as Naruto had. The way Temari and Kankuro had come to his aid, Gaara suspected he might have a chance. But it was hard to think when you were physically exhausted and mentally fighting off the possession attempts of a powerful demon.

Hopefully, they would be leaving Konoha soon. Once they made it to the Wind Country, Gaara could run off into the desert to sleep and let Shukaku run wild a little, but Fire Country was far too full of trees and people. There would be damages to pay, lives lost, and Suna was already in a difficult position regarding their alliance with Konoha. Not to mention, it struck Gaara as impolite to transform into a tailed beast and destroy the village of the people who changed your entire worldview for the better.

Also.

Gaara really, _really_ didn’t want to lose control.

It had been years since he had wanted to block out Shukaku quite so desperately. Strange how quickly his distaste for violence had returned. He’d hated it as a small child to the point of nausea, yet undoubtedly had been the cause of most of the violence he’d witnessed since. The blood, the screams, it had almost felt fake. An unreal, pretend world, where the only proof of existence was blood and the crooning of Shukaku in his ear.

It had all been real, though. And Gaara had done terrible things.

Shukaku’s jeering laughter echoed across his thoughts. Gaara took a deep breath, releasing it slowly, and ignored the tanuki demon. Overthinking rarely did anything good; it was a weakness Shukaku liked to exploit.

Frowning, Gaara rubbed at his aching shoulder. Another weakness Shukaku was trying to exploit. The pain was more uncomfortable than he had expected, even mostly healed, and while it did make staying awake easier, it also distracted from his focus.

Sand. Sand was safe.

Gaara drew the grains up into mini whirlwinds, watching the hypnotic swirling. He was still in control.

Getting the fine details right in his sand sculptures was difficult. Sand didn’t lend itself well to forming delicate organic shapes like petals, and the flowers themselves were often very complex anyway. His first attempts, years ago now, had been awful. But he was getting better at it now, and with a small push of chakra, he could even illusion the texture of the sand so that the plants looked real.

His latest attempt was a flower called a chrysanthemum, one he had never seen before arriving in Konoha. It had a large, round head made of many curled petals that all had to be arranged exactly so, and Gaara had yet to make one he thought looked perfect. This one was close, though.

A noise drew his attention. The door to the rooftop opening, footsteps walking out across the rooftop. They came into view a moment later, just as Gaara was able to pick up on their chakra signature.

Naruto Uzumaki.

Shukaku snarled, outraged at seeing the one that had defeated him and demanding revenge, then whining like a petulant child when Gaara didn’t move to attack. Gaara decided to stare at Naruto a little longer, just to annoy the demon.

Naruto looked strange in the moonlight, all those bright yellows and oranges washed out and flat. He hadn’t noticed Gaara’s presence yet, or at least didn’t act like it. Mostly, he seemed to be appreciating the view over the city.

Gaara went back to his sand sculpting, his demon muttering about blood.

“Yo, Gaara! You’re up here too?”

Gaara glanced his way briefly, giving a nod, before turning back. With a twitch of his finger, the model collapsed back into loose sand. What to make next?

Naruto moved to sit nearby, watching as Gaara guided the sand up into a thin spike, drawing out the dozens of little star shaped flowers that made up a hyacinth. He watched as Gaara sculpted flower after flower.

“You’re really good at that,” Naruto said, breaking the silence.

Gaara nodded.

“Can you make a bowl of ramen?”

He paused, frowning slightly.

“No,” Gaara said.

“Really? But ramen is so much easier than all these weird little flowers! And better to look at too!”

Gaara let the sand fall to the ground, turning to stare at Naruto, unmoved by his pleading expression. He was sat surprisingly close. Most people never stayed within arm’s reach of Gaara if they had the option.

“Aww, don’t stop. The flowers were pretty cool, I guess.”

“Why are you here?”

Naruto shrugged. “Can’t sleep. Why are _you_ here?”

“You’ve already seen what happens when I fall asleep,” Gaara said. Shukaku was growling again.

“Ne, you mean that demon? _That happens every time?!”_ Naruto gasped. “Wow, that sucks! The Kyuubi never gives me that much trouble. I think he mostly ignores me.”

That was… irritating to learn, for some reason. Gaara glared at him, unable to trace where or why he suddenly felt annoyed with the other jinchuuriki. Naruto just grinned, rubbing the back of his neck.

“The Kyuubi ignores you,” Gaara repeated, voice flat.

“Yeah, I can’t even feel him most of the time.”

Gaara’s annoyance grew sharper, drawing Shukaku’s attention, and the demon cackled, feeding his bloodlust into Gaara’s mind. Gaara pushed it back as best he could.

They were meant to be the same. But Naruto didn’t have to fight to stay in control. He didn’t face constant assassination attempts. He had people who cared for him, precious people who he had found despite the hatred aimed his way. Why did everything work out so much better for him?

“My demon, I can hear him. He’s always there, whispering, longing for blood,” Gaara said, lips drawing back in a snarl. Naruto’s eyes grew uncertain. Even if they were the same, Naruto clearly feared him. He ignored the way that made his heart ache. “On the same day I carved ‘Love’ into my skin, I let him run free to drink his fill. He promised me that if I ever slept, he would take over again, and mutilate all of Suna. They send us on missions because they know otherwise our bloodlust would turn on them—”

Naruto reached for Gaara’s arm—

Gaara flinched as sand snapped between them, trapping Naruto’s hand and crushing down—no! Gaara watched, eyes wide—it was an accident! But it was too late, too late, Naruto’s blood and bone and sinew were now soaking through the sand, feeding Shukaku—

—a flash of red light—

—sand exploding outwards—

Gaara blinked.

The red chakra flickered around Naruto’s arm before disappearing.

Naruto looked startled, but he recovered quicker that Gaara, placing his hand (unharmed! Undamaged! How was this even possible!) on Gaara’s forearm. Gaara was still frozen, staring at him. Shukaku had fallen silent.

Naruto gave a small smile. Gaara could feel the heat of his touch even through his sand armour, a foreign sensation.

“That sounds scary. Having him in your head like that.”

Gaara nodded, unable to say a word.

What was happening? How had he—what an absurd person! Only seconds ago—if it hadn’t been for—and still he was acting like it was perfectly reasonable to ask about _Gaara’s feelings!_

He turned to stare at the moon, unable to meet Naruto’s eyes.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you being… like this? For me?”

“I get what it’s like carrying this feeling—”

“That’s not what I meant. Regardless of any empathy you might have for me due to our similar childhoods, I am an enemy to you. I threatened your precious people, your village. I harmed your comrade. Just now, I nearly crushed your arm—”

“But you didn’t!”

“Not for lack of trying,” Gaara snapped, turning back to Naruto. “You sit near me, try to talk to me, even move close enough to touch. Why?”

Naruto shrugged.

“I want to be your friend.”

“Why?!”

“I dunno! Do I need a reason?”

Naruto was still holding his arm. Gaara glared down at the contact point. His skin was buzzing beneath the sand, absorbing the warmth, and for a second the thought flickered across his mind – _what if he shifted the sand armour? What would it feel like, skin to skin—_

“I mean, I’ll drop it if you don’t want to—”

“Don’t drop it.” The words escaped before he could stop them. Gaara frowned. “I… we can be friends? Even after everything?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Then I want to be friends, too,” Gaara said, and Naruto grinned so brightly Gaara had to look away, though glancing from the corner of his eye, he tried to absorb every detail. Briefly, he wondered why the warmth was pooling in his cheeks now.

“Ne, ne, we’ll be the best friends ever! Dattebayo!” Naruto said, shuffling even closer until they were sat shoulder to shoulder. “We can go to Ichiraku’s and do training together and I could show you all the best places in Konoha, and we can prank the Chuunins! Oh, and you have to meet Iruka-sensei, he’s the best, ‘ttebayo!”

“Pranks?”

“Yeah, yeah! It’s good for them!” Naruto laughed. “I’m helping them train! If a ninja can’t avoid a prank, how will he avoid a kunai?”

Gaara stared. The reasoning seemed logical at a glance, but he had a feeling that Naruto’s pranks were not meant as some kind of training practice.

“I live in Suna,” Gaara reminded, changing the subject. Naruto’s face fell – had he really forgotten? A moment later his grin returned full force.

“Then I’ll come visit you there! And then you can show me all of your favourite things about Suna!” Naruto said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. As if they hadn’t been at war only two days ago. The revelation that their Kages had both been assassinated by Orochimaru was no guarantee that Suna and Konoha would part on civil terms, let alone as allies. The next time he met Naruto may well be as enemies on the battlefield.

Shukaku screeched within his mind, growing bolder again as he sensed Gaara’s thoughts turning to more unpleasant subjects. Gaara flinched, grabbing at his hair in a poor attempt to relieve the sharp ache within his head.

Naruto trailed off from his musings about life in Suna, leaning closer until their shoulders brushed, a quiet supporting presence.

Strange, labelling anyone as support.

Eventually the spike subsided, Shukaku retreating to sulk in the back of his mind, and Gaara relaxed. He leaned back against the wall beside his friend.

“You look like crap,” Naruto said, out of nowhere. Gaara snorted softly, feeling the corners of his mouth twitch up.

“Do you often insult your friends?” He asked, staring up at the moon.

“Hey, hey! Only Sasuke-teme, and he deserves it, ‘ttebayo!” Naruto said, his cheeks growing pink. Gaara found it oddly fascinating to watch. People didn’t generally blush in his presence. “You look all cool normally, I bet all the girls would get crushes on you, just like with Sasuke-teme! Well, except for when you get that murder snarly face, oh, but maybe it was that sand armour making your skin all pale and smooth and stuff – but just then you were going all squinty eyed and it looked like you were having a massive headache or something! I had one once that was pretty bad after speaking with the Kyuubi, aww it was awful, ‘ttebayo! And the painkillers Sakura-chan gave me didn’t even work!”

“You talk a lot,” Gaara said.

“Eh, yeah, everyone says I never shut up.”

“It’s… nice.”

“Really?” Naruto asked, eyes wide.

Gaara shrugged. This conversation was probably the longest anyone had spoken with him in years, outside of mission orders. “People don’t talk to me much. It’s nice to listen to. And your voice is pleasant when you’re not shrieking.”

“Hey! I don’t shriek, ‘ttebayo!”

Gaara kept his face blank, hiding a smile. Naruto crossed his arms with an exaggerated scowl.

“That wasn’t a shriek,” Naruto said, dropping his voice as low as he could.

“Your normal voice sounds better.”

Naruto held his fake scowl for another moment before he grinned, laughing a little, something bright and happy. Gaara had done that. He had made his friend happy. He had made him _laugh_. After a few moments though, Naruto’s smile began to fade, an odd solemnity coming over his face.

“People don’t talk to me much, either,” Naruto began. “Mostly they just yelled at me to ‘get lost’.I never knew why. The villagers were all sworn to secrecy about the fox, so I never learned the details. I didn’t know it was in me, but they did, and they all looked at me with hatred for it. I didn’t even know why until a few months ago. I just thought they hated _me._ ”

Gaara frowned. It was only too easy to imagine how Naruto would have felt, wandering the streets as a child, hurt and confused by everyone’s hatred, trying his best to make friends and being constantly rebuffed, maybe even called a monster or a demon. The loneliness, the fear, the pain.

“How did you stand it?” he asked. “You’re so...I don’t understand how we could be so different when we’re the same as well.”

“I don’t know,” Naruto said, shrugging and averting his eyes. “I guess I—I thought that if I acted all happy and friendly, even when I was feeling sad, someone would want to be friends with me anyway. There were other orphan kids too, I thought maybe one of them might…but the matrons told them not to go near me either.”

“And you never hated them?”

Naruto glanced at him sharply. “No! I-” he paused, then sighed. “Maybe sometimes… I don't like thinking about back then much. There were days it got really bad, their eyes were so cold—” he swallowed, looking down into his lap, playing with his fingers. “Some days, I did hate them. I wanted to hurt them too. Scare them so bad they’d only look at me with fear. I mean, they already hated me, at least if they feared me too they’d stop trying to hurt me.”

Naruto’s voice sounded wet, and his eyes had grown shiny, as if he was crying. Gaara felt a spike of concern. What was he meant to do with a crying friend?

Before he could decide, Naruto turned to him, smiling even though he looked about to burst into tears.

“I think that’s part of why I understand you, Gaara. Because if I’d had sand like yours, I would have hurt someone, even if I didn’t really mean to at first. I… I nearly did once, after I started learning ninja skills, but they were stronger than me so nothing happened. Then I met Iruka-sensei and he started looking out for me, so it wasn’t as bad anymore. I could ignore them better.”

Gaara supposed he could see it. Baki-sensei had helped provide him with a sense of stability from the moment Gaara had been assigned to his team. Their relationship had never been more than strictly professional, but Baki had also never treated him with hate. Perhaps there was the potential there for Gaara to form another bond of friendship.

In any case, he was far more immediately concerned by the way Naruto was actually crying now, even while he grinned. Was he still upset? Did he need comfort? Was he happy?

Deciding on an action, Gaara lifted one hand towards Naruto’s shoulder and patted it firmly three times, the way Temari did that one time she had comforted a crying trainee ninja who had lost a match with their classmates. It didn’t seem to work though, Naruto just looked confused.

Gaara turned away, cheeks hot but thankfully hidden beneath his sand.

“What was that for?” Naruto asked, leaning forwards so he could see Gaara’s face again.

“You are crying,” Gaara said, doing his best to look bored and disinterested, staring past Naruto and across the rooftops.

“You were trying to comfort me?” Naruto said, and there was something odd in his tone that drew Gaara’s eyes back. Naruto looked even happier than he had seconds before, almost reverent. “I knew you’d make an awesome friend, ‘ttebayo!” and in the next second, Gaara was nearly knocked over as Naruto threw himself into a hug. The sand hissed but he held it at bay, and Naruto was laughing and happy and warm, and Gaara smiled too. It was hard not to when Naruto seemed so delighted at the idea of being friends with him.

From the moment Naruto sat back, things felt lighter. As if right up until now, there had been a weight on Gaara’s chest but now he could finally breathe deeply. The issues hanging between their villages felt simpler, even though he knew nothing had really changed. Even Shukaku was uncommonly silent, hiding deeper in his mind than normal.

Naruto began to talk again, telling Gaara all about his successful pranks, times with Iruka, funny stories about D-missions going wrong, sharing casual moments from his daily life. The stories didn’t always make much sense – Naruto had a tendency to interrupt himself and go on odd tangents whenever he thought of something new – but Gaara was content to sit back and listen. Truthfully, he was paying more attention to the tone of Naruto’s voice than his actual words.

He used his hands a lot when he spoke, gesturing wildly and wringing them together, sometimes even reaching for Gaara’s hands or shoulders to help emphasise his points. In fact, Naruto seemed to have lost all of his cautions regarding physical contact. Gaara allowed the intrusions into his space, concentrating on keeping the sand back each time Naruto moved too quickly. The Kyuubi’s chakra might have dispelled the last sand coffin, but Gaara didn’t want to risk another. And it wasn’t like Gaara really minded the touching, especially since he would soon be back in Suna where everyone kept well out of reach.

It felt nice. Warm. And having Naruto so close was reassuring, considering he was the only one who had managed to defeat Gaara in years and had done so while exhausted from a battle with one of the infamous Hyuga clan. Gaara could still sense the Kyuubi’s chakra entwined with Naruto’s, ready to defend him from the sands.

Shukaku couldn’t win here. Naruto had the power to subdue him even if Gaara’s control slipped. It was safe.

Gaara didn’t notice when his eyes began to grow heavy and his thoughts began to drift, still watching Naruto talk. He barely registered when Naruto began to yawn mid-word. It was comfortable, and Shukaku was quiet.

He didn’t notice the moment he fell asleep.

* * *

 

Temari was up before the dawn.

She took a quick stock of their rooms - Kankuro still asleep, Gaara missing, probably still awake somewhere up high. ANBU guards lounged on the rooftops, in plain sight from their windows. Baki still hadn’t returned to their rooms, presumably still caught up in meetings with the Konoha council, arguing for the alliance between Sand and Leaf to hold.

After collecting their brother, they had made their way back towards Suna alone only to be intercepted by several Konoho ANBU, who requested they return to the village under a ceasefire. Gaara was still unwilling to fight, so they had gone along with the ANBU. Back in Konoha, they had been treated as honoured enemies, followed by a constant guard, and restricted to their rooms, but otherwise treated well.

Gaara had been bandaged up, though the wound on his shoulder was already partially healed by the time the medical-nins had seen to it. Temari had watched closely, but Gaara hadn’t reacted negatively, or done anything more than watch the mednins work with a look of bemusement.

There was something off about her youngest brother.

From the moment she had been allowed to meet him, Gaara had been like a whispering breeze, calm and mild until the moment his anger whipped that breeze up into a vicious sandstorm. On missions he had been intently focused, driven to complete their goals and quick to punish anyone who threatened that, even if they were allies. Outside of that, he avoided all contact with the rest of the villagers and shinobi.

Now, he seemed...confused, his anger gone. He watched everyone around him, all social interaction, with a focus she had never seen from him before. He had actually _thanked_ her and Kankuro, and had remained near them when they ate their meals instead of retreating to his room.

Something was different, and she was certain it was Uzumaki Naruto’s fault.

After grabbing a bite to eat and something extra for her brother, she climbed out the window towards the roof.

Gaara wasn’t there, of course. That would be too easy.

She scanned the surrounding rooftops, trying to decide where to look.

Perhaps the hospital. It had a high roof, and Gaara had seemed curious about the medical treatments the other sand-nin had been receiving.

She ignored the ANBU that peeled off from the others to follow her.

Temari spotted her brother rather quickly - his bright red hair made him easy to pick out, and the brat in the bright orange jumpsuit beside him made it even easier. Landing, she walked closer—

Gasping, she stumbled backwards, reaching for her fan, before she realised the sand was motionless.

Gaara was asleep, but the demon wasn’t in control. There wasn’t any danger right now. Gradually, Temari relaxed, taking in the situation.

It really was her brother, that was obvious. The one sat beside him was the loudmouthed Uzumaki brat. And Gaara… he really was asleep, his head resting on Uzumaki’s shoulder, one hand grasping at an orange sleeve. Uzumaki was asleep too, curled towards Gaara, and all around them were scattered piles of sand.

Temari covered her mouth, hiding a smile. They looked like a pair of cute kids exhausted from a day of playing.

She sighed, glancing around.

Waking him was out of the question. Gaara didn’t tend to wake up peacefully.  Besides, he needed the rest.

She sat down to wait.

The sun had fully risen, and there were distant sounds from the direction of Konoha’s markets by the time she saw any movement from the two kids. Gaara shifted, his eyes scrunching as he buried his face further into Uzumaki’s shoulder, hiding from the light.

The next moment, Gaara startled violently awake, sand erupting outwards as he threw himself to his feet. Naruto promptly fell over without Gaara as his support. Sand barriers quickly obscured them both from view.

“Ne, Gaara?” came a sleepy voice. The sand retreated, reforming into a gourd. Gaara was crouched down beside the orange brat, who was confused and awake.

“It is morning,” Gaara said. “We were asleep.”

“Aw, crap. Sorry,” Naruto yawned, sitting up. “You’re okay though?”

“It seems so,” Gaara replied, glancing to Temari, before going back to Uzumaki, staring at him with naked confusion.

Uzumaki just stretched, giving another yawn. “I’m hungry. We should go get breakfast! I’d show you Ichiraku’s but they’re always closed in the mornings, so we’ll have to go there for lunch! How early is it anyway?”

“Gaara—” Temari began.

“Ahh! The creepy fan lady!” Uzumaki cried out, scrambling to his feet and pointing in Temari’s direction. She sighed, rolling her eyes. “Oh wait, she’s your team mate, isn’t she?”

“She is my sister,” Gaara replied.

“What! Really?” Uzumaki said, staring at Gaara with wide eyes. Temari was doing the same. That had to be the first time she had ever heard Gaara acknowledge their relation. Gaara’s eyes flicked to her again, as if checking her reaction, and he stared for several seconds when she smiled.

“Brought you a bread roll,” Temari said, flicking it in her brother’s direction. The sand caught it. “C’mon, Baki will be around to update us soon.”

Uzumaki followed them back to their rooms. He didn’t shut up the entire time.

Ducking through the window, she found Kankuro awake and at the table, eating instant ramen for breakfast instead of something healthy. The orange brat squealed with delight, jumping over to bother her other brother with his incessant chatting. Apparently ramen was his favourite food. Kankuro, still half asleep, turned to stare at her with a look of helpless betrayal. Temari ignored the look with the ease of years of practice.

It was sort of hard to believe that this kid was also a jinchuriki. Apart from the marks on his cheeks, there was no sign at all of the demon—no bloodthirsty intent, no suffocating chakra, no menace in his personality. If she hadn’t seen it herself, she wouldn’t have believed it.

Uzumaki grabbed Gaara’s arm, dragging him to the kitchen area to make more instant ramen. Surprisingly, there wasn’t even a whisper from his sand. Gaara just followed after, looking slightly lost.

Kankuro watched the whole interaction, eyes wide. “What the hell?” he mouthed at her, his own ramen forgotten.

Temari shrugged.

It was a few minutes later, as Uzumaki downed his ramen while still managing to talk their ears off, that Baki arrived. He raised his brows at the sight, but didn’t ask.

“Negotiations are over. We’ll be leaving within the hour. Be ready,” Baki said, succinct as always.

“What? But Gaara was gonna hang out with me today!” Uzumaki was apparently the only one in the room who didn’t find _that_ statement unusual. “We were gonna go to Ichiraku’s! Can’t you just stay a bit longer?”

Baki was unmoved.

“No, we cannot,” Baki said. “Uzumaki Naruto. Thank you for your assistance to Gaara. Your efforts were appreciated. But now I need you to leave so I can speak with my team privately.”

Uzumaki looked like he wanted to object again, but with a glance towards Gaara, he sighed and nodded.

“Okay, fine. I’ll meet you at the gates to say goodbye! Don’t leave before I get there, ‘ttebayo!” Uzumaki called over his shoulder, already jumping out the window.

An hour later, all of the Suna nin had gathered at the front gates and were beginning to grow restless. The guards were beginning to stare at them funny too. But Gaara was refusing to leave since Uzumaki had yet to meet them. As his handler, Baki had the authority to order Gaara to leave, but in general he tried not to challenge Gaara unless he was directly violating orders or endangering their mission objectives. And as the most senior ranking jounin, the rest of the Suna nin took their cue from him.

Uzumaki didn’t arrive for another fifteen minutes, and when he did, he looked completely out of breath and a little ruffled, but was still grinning like a mad thing. He ran straight up to Gaara.

“I finally found it! Here!” Uzumaki said, shoving a battered looking book into Gaara’s hands. “It’s my favourite manga! You can borrow it for a bit.”

Gaara examined the book closely. “Doki Doki Literature Club?”

“Yeah, it’s really good, ‘ttebayo!”

“Thank you,” Gaara said.

“And I can come visit you, yeah?”

“If you wish to.”

“‘Course I wish to! We’re friends!”

Temari wasn’t blind to how all of the surrounding Suna nin reacted to that, most of them staring at the two with fascinated horror, though Gaara and Uzumaki seemed to be ignoring their attention as they said their goodbyes.

Uzumaki watched from the gate as they left, waving until they could no longer see him.

They made good time, taking a direct route back to Suna rather than following the roads and villages. By late evening, they were close to the border of Fire Country, and settled in to camp overnight.

Temari sat near one of the fires, checking over her fan for any minor damage that needed attention. Beside her, Kankuro was doing the same with his puppets. Neither of them would be sleeping tonight. She imagined only the most critically injured of her fellows would. The atmosphere was too tense for proper rest so close to Konoha, no matter that they had a temporary truce.

Silence fell when Gaara jumped down from his perch at the edge of the camp, everyone watching as he walked between the fires and the bedrolls to stand before Baki.

“You will be negotiating peace with Konoha?” Gaara said.

If he was feeling surprised, Baki didn’t show it. He placed the scroll he was writing to the side.

“I led the talks for a temporary ceasefire and our safe passage back to Suna. It is unlikely I will be involved in the process further after we return.”

Gaara nodded, looking thoughtful.

“I am in favour of peace,” Gaara said after a moment. “Konoha would make a strong ally.”

“They would.”

“Suna’s Council...do you think they are also in favour of peace?”

“I wouldn’t presume to know the minds of our honoured Council. However, I can ensure the Council is aware of your opinion on the matter.”

“Thank you.” With a nod, Gaara turned to leave, but he paused when he looked in Temari’s direction. She stared back impassively as Gaara changed direction and moved to stand before her and Kankuro.

“Temari. Kankuro. Do you think it’s possible...that we could become friends? After everything?” Gaara asked, his voice flat, quieter than usual.

Even with how odd Gaara was behaving lately, that was out of nowhere. She glanced to Kankuro, who shrugged.

Truthfully, Temari wasn’t sure what to think. Gaara was...had been something of a terror to them all for years. Perhaps sometimes she wished they were closer, that she could have been a real big sister to him, but it had never been more than a childish fantasy. This sudden change seemed too good to be true, and Temari hadn’t earned her way to the Chuunin Exams by accepting things at face value.

Still, Gaara had never been one for deception, not when he already had the power to crush an enemy without even a little effort.

So. That left a chance that this was real, that Gaara had really been so unsettled by recent events that he was reaching out to them.

She turned back to Gaara.

“I think the possibility is still there, yes,” she said slowly, watching his reaction.

“Would you like to be my friend?” he asked.

“I would like to try.”

“Me too,” Kankuro added.

Gaara seemed both surprised and pleased, a small smile quirking his lips for just a second, so quick she nearly missed it.

“Why don’t you join us? We’re doing weapons maintenance,” Temari said, gesturing to the spot beside her. Gaara seemed surprised again, but quickly settled down beside her.

Slowly, things began to return to normal and people stopped staring, going back to their business. Another flinch went through the crowd when Gaara began to move his sand, but he didn’t move to attack anyone, so the camp settled down again quickly.

Temari glanced over occasionally to watch what Gaara was doing, and was surprised to find he was suddenly surrounded by flowers. Even more so when they suddenly collapsed back into loose sand.

“Impressive,” Temari said. Gaara glanced her way and nodded.

“You must have practiced those a lot,” she prompted. Gaara paused, letting the sand swirl aimlessly for a few seconds.

“Yes. I don’t sleep much,” he said dryly. Kankuro snorted, and Temari smirked. All around them, she could feel the camp watching again, but Gaara was ignoring them all masterfully, so she didn’t acknowledge their attention.

“Do you know much about plants?”

“A little,” Gaara said, glancing at Kankuro, before drawing his sand up into a long, thin spike. Bell-shaped flowers began to form all along its length, and suddenly a blush of colour swept over the sand, leaving the flowers a deep magenta pink with speckled insides. “I saw these in a garden in Konoha. _Digitalus purpurea_ , or the Common Foxglove. The entire plant is toxic.”

“Really!” Kankuro said, leaning closer to examine it. “What does it do?”

“Nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness, seizures, and disturbances of the heart. In high doses, it can kill.”

“Nice! What other ones do you know?”

Gaara blinked, smiling slightly as he manipulated the sand into a delicate, feathery plant with small white flowers. Temari watched, a little amazed at how much fine detail Gaara could make.

“I know this one,” Kankuro grinned.

“Hemlock,” Gaara said with a nod. “ _Conium maculatum._ It causes paralysis of the lungs.”

“Do another!”

The sand shifted again, turning to form short, bristly branches and small red berries.

“Ah, nice choice!”

“ _Taxus cuspidata_ , yew. Only the flesh of the berries is non-toxic. Dizziness, nausea, abdominal pain, and heart failure,” Gaara recited, and then his smile shifted into a smirk eerily similar to Kankuro’s. “No known antidote.”

Temari had never seen Kankuro look prouder. She glanced at Baki, who was watching the interaction with bemused approval.

“What’s your favourite one?” Temari asked. Gaara thought for a moment, before shaping his sand into something smaller, several thin stem growing out of a rosette of jagged leaves and topped by bright yellow flowers.

“Dandelion,” Gaara said softly. “They’re… persistent.”

Persistent was one word for it, most people called them weeds. Useful weeds, with a lot of healing properties, but weeds nonetheless. Although... bright yellow, persistent, and with healing properties. Temari wondered how recently they had become Gaara’s favourite.In all the years they had been on the same team, the only thing she had seen that roused Gaara from cool apathy was the prospect of bloodshed. Seeing him so excited to talk about plants, of all things, it was almost endearing. He really was just a kid, wasn’t he? One who most people ignored.

Maybe there _was_ a chance, something genuine beneath the demon sand that they could reach and draw out. Maybe they could be a real family.


End file.
